Bank of England to Test DLT Use in New Settlement System
The Bank of England has launched a proof of concept that will explore DLT-compatibility with its real time gross settlement service.

The Bank of England said Tuesday that it is undertaking a new proof-of-concept to explore the ways its planned real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system could connect with distributed ledger networks.
The U.K. central bank first announced its intentions to develop a DLT-compatible service in 2017, having previously said that it wouldn't move to base the system on the tech outright – a decision it referenced in this week's announcement.
"Although the Bank has concluded that distributed ledger technology (DLT) is not yet sufficiently mature to provide the core for the next generation of RTGS," a statement said, "it places a high priority on ensuring that the new service is capable of interfacing with DLT as and when it is developed in the wider sterling markets."
Specifically, the project's participants will examine whether "innovative settlement systems," such as those based on DLT, are able to interact with its proposed 'renewed' cloud-based RTGS service. Project participants include payments technology providers Baton Systems and Token, R3 and Clearmatics.
It will also aim to pinpoint ways in which the service's "functionality could be expanded" through the use of new technologies.
The UK central bank said that it hopes the firms' involvement will "give broader insight into the range of functionality the Bank might need to offer to support this sector."
The Bank of England plans to issue a report on the results of the proof-of-concept later this year.
Bank of England image via Shutterstock
More For You
Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Japan’s Higher Rates Puts Bitcoin in the Crosshairs of a Yen Carry Unwind

A stronger yen typically coincides with de-risking across macro portfolios, and that dynamic could tighten liquidity conditions that recently helped bitcoin rebound from November’s lows.
What to know:
- The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates to 0.75% at its December meeting, the highest since 1995, affecting global markets including cryptocurrencies.
- A stronger yen could lead to de-risking in macro portfolios, impacting liquidity conditions that have supported bitcoin's recent recovery.
- Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated a high probability of a rate hike, with officials prepared for further tightening if their economic outlook supports it.










